Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Pig-napped! Perfect the pig stolen from True Blue BBQ

“Perfect,” the piggy mascot for True Blue BBQ on Summer Street, was stolen.

The question remains, was Perfect saved from a death by barbeque sauce, or was it pig-napped? True Blue owner Elaine Murphy believes the latter.

The crime occurred sometime between 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3, and 8 a.m. Friday, Sept. 4. Murphy was the last person to see Perfect.

“I was there the night before, prepping until eight in the evening,” she said. “I usually dress Perfect in the morning, but decided ‘I’m here, I might as well do it.’”

Murphy dressed Perfect in his best school outfit, a True Blue BBQ T-shirt, backpack, blue beanie cap, and blue Croc sandals. She made sure Perfect was safe in his shed, locked the gate of the 6-foot high fence and went home for the night.

When she checked on the pig in the morning, all that was left were the Crocs.

Police are looking for the culprit and Murphy is offering a reward for Perfect’s safe return: some of True Blue’s famous barbeque.

Perfect is 5-feet long and 3-feet tall, pink and very light for its size. The pig is made from fiberglass and resin.

“If someone drops him, he’ll break,” Murphy said.

Perfect, who is named for Wilbur the pig in the book Charlotte’s Web, usually stands on the roadside next to True Blue’s sandwich board advertising. At night, it’s kept in an unlocked shed surrounded by a locked 6-foot fence.

Murphy thinks teenagers may have climbed the fence and hauled Perfect over the fence. “They had to go through some effort to get the pig.”

Murphy bought Perfect three years ago for $500. A replacement will cost approximately $900. Perfect has several outfits including a cowboy outfit complete with boots, hat and bandana; a Hawaii outfit with a grass skirt and lei, an ice skating outfit, a raincoat and matching galoshes for those rainy days; and a rubber duckie float with flippers and goggles for beach days. Depending on the outfit, Perfect can either be a girl or a boy.

“People drop off outfits for him,” Murphy said.

Most recently someone gave Perfect a bright green sombrero to match True Blue’s Mexican food special. Murphy was looking for a serape to match. “If we can get Perfect back.”

Anyone with information about Perfect’s pig-napping can call True Blue BBQ at 781-585-6005 or contact Elaine@truebluebbq.com.